Top News:
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Filing: in FY 2021, ESPN's pay TV distribution shrank another 10% to 76M US households, while ESPN+ subscribers grew 66% YoY to 17M — ESPN, a longtime cornerstone of the Walt Disney Co., continues to lose lucrative pay-TV distribution, shrinking another 10% to end fiscal 2021 at 76 million U.S. households.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing
RELATED:
Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
SEC filing: Disney plans to spend around $33B on content in fiscal 2022, which began on October 1, up from around $25B in fiscal 2021 — Disney will spend around $8 billion more on content next year. In its annual report filed with the SEC on Wednesday, Disney said it would spend around $33 billion …
Discussion:
Variety and Hollywood Reporter
Choire Sicha / New York Magazine:
Former NYT exec says Wirecutter employees were treated as second-class citizens at NYT, with a lower pay scale and some NYT staff openly sneering at their work — In October 2016, Wirecutter, a scrappy website that uses journalism to help people make purchases, was five years old.
Discussion:
@wirecutterunion, @choire, New York Post, @pwhall, @chronic, @thomdunn, Poynter, 9to5Mac, @laura_nelson, @laurenlamie, @laurenlamie, Fox News, @zagatam, The Daily Beast, @daveyalba, @amondozhou, @harrymccracken, @edzitron, @bypatrickgeorge, @joemullin, @thedailybeast, @salgentile, @rsingel, @danfrakes, @discourse_blog, @mattdpearce, @titonka, @mathowie, @kathyvsinternet, @kait_tiffany, @mccarthyryanj, @runwithskizzers, @tomcoates, @chrislhayes, @alexkoppelman, @zoegberg, @maxjrosenthal, @janefriedman, @kingthor, @caseyjohnston, @lemonsand, @clancynewyork, @qhardy, @lisatozzi, @johnkunza, @brandonetc, @francesrobles, @shiraovide, @intelligencer, @oliverdarcy, @caseyjohnston, @stanhoraczek, @leighjkboerner, @adriana_lacy, @pkafka, discourseblog.com and @wirecutterunion
Ellen Ormesher / The Drum:
NYT executive says the paper isn't an “activist” org and will continue featuring fossil fuel ads, except in NYT Climate, because they help fund its journalism — The New York Times' (NYT) international president Stephen Dunbar-Johnson tells The Drum: “We are not an activist organization.”
Mark Jacob / Local News Initiative:
Analysis of ~50 outlets: users visit large outlets an average of 5.7 days/month, mid-sized outlets 9.2 days/month, and small outlets 10.5 days/month — Northwestern University's new Medill Subscriber Engagement Index highlights the need to identify at-risk digital subscribers and find effective ways …
Discussion:
digitalcontentnext.org
Clark Merrefield / The Journalist's Resource:
Analysis of 763,887 WSJ articles from 1984 to 2017: coverage of certain topics, like recessions, predicts 25% of average fluctuations in stock market returns — Culling decades of Wall Street Journal articles, researchers created a new way to gauge stock performance that matches well to real returns.
Discussion:
@charliebeckett, @raju and Talking Biz News
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Publishers like the LA Times and The Washington Post are joining Twitter Blue more for its audience data and transparent payout system than its revenue share — If you ask publishers, the unofficial motto of Twitter Blue is: Come for the revenue share, stay for everything else.
Discussion:
@adweek and @markstenberg3
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify confirms it is testing Discover, a TikTok-like vertical feed of music videos that appears to repurpose Canvas videos, in its iOS app — TikTok has seen its short-form video feed copied by a host of competitors, from Instagram to Snap to YouTube and even Netflix.
Discussion:
Insider, Waivly, RouteNote Blog, ScreenRant, XDA Developers, Engadget, The Verge, Tubefilter, Music Ally, Gizmodo and Señales.co, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The Salt Lake Tribune, which became a nonprofit in 2020, says it is financially sustainable and grew its newsroom 23% in the past year — The Salt Lake Tribune's transition to nonprofit status has been closely watched in the news industry. “The opportunity for us to prove that this can work …
Discussion:
@palewire, @tribjazz, @mary_walrath, @swilliamsjourno, @sarahscire, @erinbiba, @jayrosen_nyu and Salt Lake Tribune
Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
EU proposes broad disclosures about political ads and banning targeting based on sensitive data, but not microtargeting, and fines of up to 5% of global revenue — Proposed measure would ban targeting political ads based on categories such as religious views, sexual orientation
Discussion:
European Commission and @baekdal, more at Techmeme »
Manori Ravindran / Variety:
Ofcom approves relaunching BBC Three as a broadcast channel, available on Freeview, Sky, and others, in February 2022; BBC Three was made online-only in 2016 — BBC Three, the digital platform that's been the home of “Fleabag” and “Normal People,” is returning as a broadcast channel.
Discussion:
@jimwaterson, @jimwaterson, @bbcthree, Broadband TV News and Televisual
Tessa Stuart / Rolling Stone:
Reality Winner criticizes The Intercept for poor protection of sources and accuses its parent company of reneging on a promise to pay her legal defense bills — After years locked away for leaking classified information on Russian interference, the former NSA contractor has a lot to say about how she got there
Output Producer, CA — 
China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — 
Senior Assignment Editor, DC — 
Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — 
Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — 
Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — 
Local Government Reporter, IA — 
Research Director, CA — 
Immigration Enforcement Reporter — 
Presque Island Reporter, ME — 
Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — 
AI Content Editor, WA — 
Legislative Reporter, TN — 
Editorial Assistant, Remote US — 
Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — 
Government & Politics Editor, WA — 
Business & GA Reporter. VT — 
Sports Reporter, WA — 
Energy Reporter, TX — 
Senior Reporter, SC — 
Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — 
Reporter, WI — 
Political Newsletter Writer, CO — 
Jackson Reporter, MS — 
Music Editor, AZ — 
Breaking News Reporter, NV — 
Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — 
Reporter II - Technology, Remote — 
Editor, Remote US — 
City Reporter, WA — 
Executive Editor, OR — 
Education & Budget Reporter, CA — 
Senior Writer/Editor, FL — 
Media Editor, Remote — 
